Customer Reviews

The Virginian [VHS]

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This is one of the first "talkie" movies so one has to bear with the black & white & variable sound quality. Otherwise, it's a great story by Owen Wister (which was remade twice more) and quite well done for so early a feature and true to the book. Gary Cooper rose to stardom as a result of this one. If you like to see a young Gary Cooper, this one's for you. If you like Westerns, this one's for you. If you like a good old-fashioned story, this one's for you.

This 1929 film directed by Victory Fleming, was the third film version of Owen Wister's classic western novel and the first all-talking picture for star Gary Cooper. "The Virginian" is the foreman of the Box H ranch, near Medicine Bow, Wyoming, where he gives his old friend Steve (Richard Arlen) a job. Then they are both smitten with Molly Wood (Mary Brian), the new schoolteacher, playing practical jokes on each other to win her attention. But the Virginian also crosses paths with Tramapas (Walter Huston) and then catches Steve has been putting Tramapas' brand on Box H cattle. Forced to hang his friend and two other outlaws, the Virginian swears he will get Trampas.

For an early talking film, director Fleming does a marvelous job of using sound. He also has the advantage of great locations near Sonora in the High Sierras and a pretty good script by Howard Estabrook. However, the famous line "Smile when you call me that" is actually "If you want to call me that, smile" in the film. One of the most famous misquoted lines in cinema history, right up there with "Play it again, Sam." Cooper's performance is fine, it is just strange to see him so young. It really does not seem like Gary Cooper to me, but that is my problem. This film was so successful that it was actually re-issued by Paramount in 1935 and it still holds up when compared to the other versions of the story.

For fans of Owen Wister's 1902 novel, this early talkie will seem like a Little Golden Book version of the well-loved story, condensed and woven together from a few key scenes in the book. While the book is sometimes talky, the movie seems even more so, and Cooper struggles manfully with pages of aw-shucks dialogue. There are only glimpses of the powerful laconic screen presence he became known for in later films. Physically, the tall and lean and still-young Cooper is perfect for the role, though unlike old-time cowboys, he seems far more comfortable on his feet than riding a horse. The only totally realized characterization in the film is Walter Huston's Trampas, and he is fun to watch, though he has little of the menace of Wister's original villain.

The footage of herding cattle across a river gives a note of authenticity, and the film comes to life visually when the technology of early sound recording doesn't slow things down. In the many scenes with dialogue, the camera doesn't move, giving that stiffly wooden feel of early talkies. I noticed only one interior tracking shot, in the saloon, as Trampas and his boys enter and walk to the bar.

Dramatically the film comes to life in two or three scenes, both of which are improvements on Wister's novel. One is the hanging, as the three cattle thieves approach the nooses waiting for them, and one man recoils in horror. In the book, Wister's narrator chooses not to witness the hangings, so it goes undescribed. The other is the final shootout between the Virginian and Trampas. Wister, writing before the movie conventions of gun-duels, doesn't draw out the suspense, but director Fleming allows us to see hero and villain walking the empty streets of town until they find each other and pull their guns.

Altogether, the film is worth watching for the place it holds in the history of the western. This one and Gary Cooper's "High Noon" would make an interesting pair of movie bookends.

Gary Cooper is fine in his first all-talking film. As the title character, Coop is the foreman of a Wyoming ranch. He gives a job to an old friend Arlen, and they both vie for the affections of the sweet Molly (Mary Brian), a schoolmarm. Out of jealousy, after Gary's won the affections of Molly, Arlen seeks revenge by rustling cattle along with the villain-like Trampas (Walter Huston) from Cooper's herd....Cooper plays his role well, but Huston is even better as Trampas (remember Doug McClure playing him on TV?) Randolph Scott, who has a bit as a rider in this supposedly coached Cooper on speaking with an authentic Virginian accent (Scott was a native Virginian, Cooper hailed from Montana).
This Paramount all-talkie rescued Gary Cooper from being cast as juvenile "It Boy" tag he had been labled with. The public was enthralled with this film back in 1929: the famed catch phrase "When you call me that, smile" was in the original Owen Wister book. In this movie version, which is heard during an amusing card game, the line read: "If you want to call me that, smile" (!).

I'm surprised to find this old classic currently unavailable. If I wanted an authentic Western collection, this would be the place to start. Cooper defines his style here that he uses through out his brilliant career which includes his clumbliness with the ladies. While others have discussed in detail the plot. My favorite scene is early in the film where Cooper and his outfit are herding steers through town, and one happens to stray into a dress shop through an open door into the street. Cooper appoligeticly enters the dress shop on horse back to recover his property. Anyone who has had the job or privilege to herd cattle in unfamiliar places will most especially appreciate those moments. At the time the picture was filmed, there were many colorfull old time westerners around Hollywood to compliment the real life western setting.

Exactly as advertised, this video was in excellent shape, delivered promptly and of good value. A classic Western with classic actors.